{"slug": "copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls", "title": "Copilot code review: New configurations and controls", "summary": "GitHub announced new configurations and controls for Copilot code review, including organization-level runner controls, content exclusion support, and removal of the character limit on repository custom instructions. These updates allow teams to tailor Copilot code review to their needs within repositories and organizations.", "body_md": "# Copilot code review: New configurations and controls\n\nWith new organization runner controls, Copilot content exclusion support, and the removal of the character limit on repository custom instructions, Copilot code review is now easier to tailor to your needs within your repository and organization.\n\n[⚙️ Organization runner controls](#%e2%9a%99%ef%b8%8f-organization-runner-controls)\n\nWith the release of [Copilot code review’s agentic architecture](https://github.blog/changelog/2026-03-05-copilot-code-review-now-runs-on-an-agentic-architecture/), we announced that Copilot code review is powered by GitHub Actions. By default, Copilot code review runs on the standard GitHub-hosted runner, but teams can configure self-hosted or large runners for more control over the runner type. To support ease of setup of custom runners, Copilot code review’s runner type can now be configured at the organization-level, meaning that one configuration can apply to all repositories within the organization.\n\nOrganization admins can now:\n\n- Set Copilot code review’s default runner to be automatically used across all repositories, without requiring each repository to be individually configured.\n- Lock the runner setting so the organization default overrides any individual repository configurations.\n\nTo set this up, navigate to your organization, then go to **Copilot** -> **Runner type** -> **Runner type configuration**. Your configuration will apply to both Copilot code review and Copilot cloud agent if both are enabled.\n\n[🛡️ Content exclusion support](#%f0%9f%9b%a1%ef%b8%8f-content-exclusion-support)\n\nCopilot code review now respects repository, organization, and enterprise-level Copilot content exclusion settings, so you can prevent Copilot from utilizing specified files or directories during its review. Repository administrators can configure excluded paths in repository settings using path-based rules.\n\nThis gives you control over which repository content is available to Copilot code review, helping you align reviews with your team, organization, or enterprise’s boundaries, or prevent Copilot from utilizing context that isn’t relevant to the review.\n\nFor more information, check out [our docs about configuring content exclusions for Copilot.](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/configure-content-exclusion/exclude-content-from-copilot)\n\n[📝 Custom instructions character limits have been removed](#%f0%9f%93%9d-custom-instructions-character-limits-have-been-removed)\n\nPreviously, Copilot code review would stop reading `copilot-instructions.md`\n\nand `*.instructions.md`\n\nfiles located under the `.github`\n\ndirectory once the file reached 4000 characters in size. That limit has now been removed, allowing additional customization and flexibility in your custom instructions.\n\nJoin the discussion within [GitHub Community](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/categories/announcements).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls", "canonical_source": "https://github.blog/changelog/2026-06-12-copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls", "published_at": "2026-06-12 21:37:14+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-12 22:21:01.518452+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "ai-products", "ai-agents"], "entities": ["GitHub", "Copilot", "GitHub Actions"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls.jsonld"}}